Light On Light Through

Welcome to Dummy in the HOV Lane ... Episode 23 of Light On Light Through ... in which we semi-seriously consider the case of man who was pulled over on Long Island, NY for driving with a dummy passenger in the HOV lane ... why would a sleeping person, a quiet person, a dullard-type dummy be ok, but not this life-like dummy? How about a dog, a chimp, or a snake plant?

Plus flashes ... lowly bacteria to the rescue again - they can make buildings more earthquake resistant ... Lost sinks further downhill ...Battlestar Galactica is diving ... and what's wrong with those Academy Award people - not letting Borat speak on Sunday night...

Helpful links:

1. Read the full blog post for this episode: Dummy in the HOV Lane
2. More about helpful bacteria: Hail the Mighty Lowly Bacterium ... Paul De Kruif's The Microbe Hunters ... and my novel, The Consciousness Plague...
3. The Silk Code podiobook - my award-winning novel, read by Shaun Farrell, available free - is now up and running, with the first five chapters over at http://thesilkcode.blogspot.com or http://podiobooks.com - get over there and subscribe, while the going is good...
4. http://artofgraciousliving.com Patsy Terrell's podcast - Patsy does the wonderful Light On Light Through - Blubrry id
5. The Plot to Save Socrates just published in trade paperback last Tuesday, February 20 - this means you can get a new copy, if you like, for $10+ over on Amazon and most places ... (click on the above title to get to Amazon) ... and if you'd like an autographed copy, at no extra charge to you, just send me an e-mail at [email protected]

Enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblogs: http://InfiniteRegress.tv and http://www.myspace.com/twiceuponarhyme and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Levinson news clips podcast: http://Levinsonnews.podshow.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

words and music by Paul Levinson readings, performances, recordings, and interviews about my music and fiction

live on radio (Sundays, 7:20am, Pacific time): www.knx1070.com

my short stories: at fictionwise

The Silk Code - Locus Award, Best 1st Science Fiction Novel, 1999

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

Welcome to Episode 22 of Light On Light Through ... Lost: Anatomy of a Loss ... in which we look at what went wrong with this tv series which galvanized audiences with its experimental story telling and viral marketing the first season, put people to sleep or got them frustrated in the second season, and now, despite a good resumption this February, is struggling to stay afloat...

Plus flashes ... actually, just one big, bad one this episode ... the FCC's at it again with a report circulating in Congress that calls for extension of government regulation of television programming ...

Helpful links:

1. Unveiling http://PaulLevinson.net - my new nightclub blog, over at Rudius Media, which has podcast players for all four of my shows - Light On Light Through, Ask Lev, Levinson news clips, and Words and Music by Paul Levinson - plus videos of many of my tv appearances, reviews of my books, a blog I write to usually a few times a day, a Message Board where you can talk to me, and a lot more... other Rudius bloggers include Tucker Max, Bob Greene, and Bill Dawes... come on over!
2. The Silk Code podiobook - my award-winning novel, read by Shaun Farrell, available free - is now up and running, with the first five chapters over at http://thesilkcode.blogspot.com or http://podiobooks.com - get over there and subscribe, while the going is good...
3. http://artofgraciousliving.com Patsy Terrell's podcast - Patsy does the wonderful Light On Light Through - Blubrry id
4. http://bigbrry.com Tom Marquette interviews me (part 2 - 45 mins) (part 1 from last week is also on the site)
5. The Plot to Save Socrates will be published in trade paperback this Tuesday, February 20 - this means you can get a new copy, if you like, for $10+ over on Amazon and most places ... (click on the above title to get to Amazon) ... and if you'd like an autographed copy, at no extra charge to you, just send me an e-mail at [email protected]

Enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblogs: http://paullevinson.net and http://www.myspace.com/twiceuponarhyme and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Levinson news clips podcast: http://Levinsonnews.podshow.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

words and music by Paul Levinson readings, performances, recordings, and interviews about my music and fiction

live on radio (Sundays, 7:20am, Pacific time): www.knx1070.com

The Silk Code - winner Locus Award, Best First Science Fiction, 1999

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

Welcome to Episode 21 of Light On Light Through - How To Research Ancient History for Science Fiction ... I gave a talk on this topic to the Science Fiction Society of Northern New Jersey at the Garden State Plaza Borders Bookstore this evening ... but for all the people in the world who couldn't attend, my two secret ingredients are old Encyclopedia Britannicas (1955 or earlier) and new sources on the Web (quadruple corroborated)...

Plus flashes ... Hank and Jack Bauer ... MSNBC Countdown Board goes ballistic over my critique of Keith Olbermann (because of his attack on 24) ... Lost's recovering ... and iTunes and the Beatles...

And the early-Beatle-like James Harris with a nice home-demo of his song Tonya McCreary...

Helpful links:

1. http://paullevinson.blogspot.com my blog posts on many of the flashes
2. MSNBC Olbermann Countdown Board ... for some reason, most of the posters there don't like me...
3. http://www.myspace.com/jamesharrisacoustic you'll love it
4. http://artofgraciousliving.com Patsy Terrell's podcast - Patsy does the wonderful Light On Light Through - Blubrry id
5. http://bigbrry.com Tom Marquette interviews me (part 1 - an hour) (part 2 next week)
6. http://adventuresinscifipublishing.blogspot.com/ special preview of Shaun Farrell's podiobook of my novel The Silk Code - chapter one! - you can also hear it at http://odeo.com/audio/8529393/view

Enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblogs: http://www.myspace.com/twiceuponarhyme and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Levinson news clips podcast: http://Levinsonnews.podshow.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

words and music by Paul Levinson readings, performances, recordings, and interviews about my music and fiction

live on radio (Sundays, 7:20am, Pacific time): www.knx1070.com

The Silk Code - winner Locus Award, Best First Science Fiction, 1999

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

Welcome to Episode 20 of Light Light Through - Blockbuster, Netflix, the Web: The Future of Watching Movies out of Theaters. It all began with Edison's kinetoscope, which gave movie-viewers a one-on-one experience. Now, after a century of theater going, more and more people are watching movies on their own devices. But not all of them are equal. Blockbuster, which has dominated this market, still makes you go out in the rain to return a movie. Netflix is better, but still leaves you hostage to the mailman. That leaves the Web - and nothing succeeds like delivery of movies at the speed of light...

And debuting in this Episode, a new LOLT feature: flashes ... in which I give quickie takes on media news. This week: the media are most to blame for the Boston cartoon terror scare ... Viacom the doomed dinosaur snarls at YouTube ... Yale prof disapproves of student sex in showers (well, ok, sometimes I'm make an exception and consider a story which isn't media news)...

Helpful links:

1. A Short History of the Movies by Mast and Kawin best history of motion pix I know of
2. Brewster General Store if you'd like to get your hands on a real kinetoscope
3. http://thesilkcode.blogspot.com/ where to subscribe to Shaun Farrell's forthcoming podiobook reading of my novel, The Silk Code (won the Locus Award for best first science fiction novel of 1999)
4. http://patsyterrell.com Patsy's the Blubrry voice on LOLT
5. http://podcastpendulum.podomatic.com Podcast Pendulum!
6. http://thesciphishow.com listen for Jason's interview with me - about The Chronology Protection Case - which should be live tomorrow (Sunday, 4 February 2007)
7. look at the second podiobook in the column to your right: it's The Chronology Protection Case, yours, free, enjoy! And enjoy the first chapter of The Plot to Save Socrates, too, while you're at it... podiobook reading of that is right above The Chronology Protection Case...

Enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblogs: http://www.myspace.com/twiceuponarhyme and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Levinson news clips podcast: http://Levinsonnews.podshow.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

words and music by Paul Levinson readings, performances, recordings, and interviews about my music and fiction

live on radio (Sundays, 7:20am, Pacific time): www.knx1070.com

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

Welcome to Episode 19 of Light On Light Through in which we consider How Goes the Ship of Free Speech? The ancient Greeks called it parrhesia, and loved it so much they named ships after it. How is the ship of free expression faring in our world today? Well, here in the U.S.A., as we near the anniversary of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during Superbowl halftime several years ago, the answer is: not so good. The FCC has levied record fines against broadcasters deemed to have presented objectionable material. Both parties in Congress have cried out for larger fines, and extension of FCC control to cable. All of this in the face of our First Amendment, which clearly says "Congress shall make no law ... abridging freedom of speech..." The one bit of good news? We have podcasting, which so far has been beyond anyone's ability to control...

And speaking of podcasting, and looking at the bright side, I talk about various projects I'm happy to be involved in with Shaun Farrell, and Tee Morris, at the end of this episode...

Helpful links:

1. I debate Brent Bozell about free speech. He was head of the Parents Television Council - which, according to Todd Shield's article in the December 04 Mediaweek, was responsible for 50% of the complaints received by the FCC about the Janet Jackson "costume reveal".
2. Athenian triremes named after abstract concepts (such as free speech)

Enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblog: http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

Welcome to Episode 18 of Light On Light Through - Keith Olbermann, Jack Bauer, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge ... What do these three have in common? Well, last Tuesday evening, Olbermann delivered a diatribe about 24 and Jack Bauer, as perhaps deliberate tools of the Bush administration to frighten the American people about terrorism, and thereby shore up support for its policies. I say Olbermann misunderstands how people enjoy fiction, and recommend to him and his producers an acquaintance with Coleridge's "willing suspension of disbelief". I also recommend Thomas Jefferson, for his confidence in human rationality and his distrust of anything that smacks of calling for censorship...

Helpful links:

1. Olbermann's attack on 24 - don't know how long the link will be up
2. Coleridge's Biographia Literaria - where he discusses "willing suspension of disbelief"
3. 24 Season Premier (first 4 hours) - object of Olbermann's ire
4. http://paullevinson.blogspot.com - more from me on this topic

Enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblogs: http://www.myspace.com/twiceuponarhyme and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Levinson news clips podcast: http://Levinsonnews.podshow.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

words and music by Paul Levinson readings, performances, recordings, and interviews about my music and fiction

live on radio (Sundays, 7:15am, Pacific time): www.knx1070.com

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller - New York Daily News

Hello Solar System - What on Earth Are They Doing to Poor Pluto? - and welcome to Episode 17 of Light On Light Through, where we consider the semantic fate of Pluto, standing vigil at the edge of our solar system, recently demoted to dwarf-planet status by the International Astronomical Union... Who should decide the status of Pluto: scientists in disagreement among themselves, or humanity?

Michael Burstein joins me for an interview. He is an award-winning short story science fiction writer, a former secondary school science teacher, and head of the Pluto Is A Planet organization.

You'll also hear a few bars of Alpha Centauri, a song written in March 2000 by Pete Rosenthal and me.

Helpful links:

1. http://www.plutoisaplanet.org/ and http://mabfan.livejournal.com/ (Michael Burstein's journal)
2. http://www.claycenter.org/astro February 4th live debate about Pluto at the Clay Center in Boston
3. Is Pluto a Planet? Historical Journey Through the Solar System - good background reading by David Weintraub
4. Neil deGrasse Tyson's 1999 plea for "demoting" Pluto

Enjoy!

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblog: http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller - New York Daily News

Welcome to Episode 16 of Light On Light Through: diGGin' Round: Further Adventures in Gate-Opening, in which I take a look at Digg, the fabulously popular online news system, in which readers not editors choose what is on the front page. Like Wikipedia, Digg (for the most part) is run by its users. Like Wiki, Digg suffers from vandals on the one hand and zealots who bury stories too quickly on the other. But at least Digg and Wikipedia are honest and open about how their articles are chosen - unlike the New York Times, for example, which says it publishes "all the news that's fit to print," when in fact it's publishing all the news that a small group of editors deem fit to print. The Beatles were turned down by 26 record companies before someone had the sense to sign them. So much for experts and editors. Good for Digg for trying something different... (See also Digg and Wikipedia: Further Adventures in Gate-Opening.)

In addition to looking around Digg, I also had the pleasure of making guest appearances on a few podcasts this week, including Jake's Just Not Right and George's One Minute How-To - check 'em out ... And if you like brief pieces of advice on podcasts, give a listen to my latest podcast, Ask Lev over on 10minutelessons.com...

Enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblogs: http://www.myspace.com/twiceuponarhyme and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Levinson news clips podcast: http://Levinsonnews.podshow.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

words and music by Paul Levinson readings, performances, recordings, and interviews about my music and fiction

live on radio (Sundays, 7:15am, Pacific time): www.knx1070.com

my latest novel: The Plot to Save Socrates"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

and Brian Charles Clarke says The Plot to Save Socrates "resonates with the current political climate . . . heroine Sierra Waters is sexy as hell . . . there's a bite to Levinson's wit" -- in Curled Up With A Good Book

more about The Plot to Save Socrates...

Happy New Year! And welcome to Episode 15 of Light On Light Through: The Stuff of the Cosmos ... Carl Sagan, who died ten years ago at the end of December, said that, because we come from the cosmos, when we look out at the cosmos with our telescopes, we are but the stuff of the cosmos looking back at itself ... in this New Year's podcast we explore the meaning and impact of Carl Sagan's thought, including his dual pursuit of knowledge and fame ... and we look at the need of our species to get beyond this planet and out into the cosmos, our truest home...

Also in this episode: a medley of our music from our podcasts since October (which was the beginning of Light On Light Through), including samples from Idris Elba, Ebony Moore, Jeffrey Foucault, and B J Cunningham - look at the show notes for previous episodes, for details about where to find and hear more of their music.

I'll be back again next week, in 2007. In the meantime, enjoy...

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblog: http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller - New York Daily News

Happy holidays! Episode 14 of Light On Light Through is mostly about food ... in particular the revolution in convenience and delicious eating being brought about by places like Trader Joe's ... I talk not only about the great food you can get there, but about hearing Wolfman Jack on the radio while I was shopping at Trader Joe's ...

Also in this episode ... the Mo' or more is about YouTube again ... Time Magazine picked everyone as its "person of the year," in large part because YouTube has made video producers of us all ... just as I was talking about in Episode 10, Every Eye's A Camera, Every Ear's A Mike here a few weeks ago ... you can still catch that episode of you like ... and in just the past week, YouTube has demonstrated a different kind of value to the world:

It made almost immediately available the uncensored rendition of Saturday Night Live's hilarious Special Treat in a Box skit by Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake from last week. NBC, as per usual, was too afraid of the FCC to play it unbleeped on the air, but once YouTube led the way, nbc.com followed by putting both the bleeped and non-bleeped versions on its web page. Can YouTube be the antidote to the FCC's trampling of the First Amendment? Maybe ... we'll have to see ... let's hope so...

And I'm very pleased to also have in this episode BJ Cunningham's acoustic Still Here With You, as well as his acoustic-guitar rendition of Over the Rainbow... You can get his Frontiers and Acoustic albums on iTunes. His details and other helpful links follow:

1. http://cunninghamsongs.com and http://www.myspace.com/bjcunningham
2. http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/uncensored.shtml
3. http://www.traderjoesfan.com/ and Trader Joe's at www.tribe.net
4. Educated Tastes - my blog about food, drink, restaurants, groceries
5. and two old-fashioned print-on-paper references about the importance of food in life and society: Objective Knowledge (p. 37) by Karl R. Popper; Mechanization Takes Command by Siegfried Giedion

Wonderful holidays to everyone!

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblogs: http://www.myspace.com/twiceuponarhyme and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Levinson news clips podcast: http://Levinsonnews.podshow.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

words and music by Paul Levinson readings, performances, recordings, and interviews about my music and fiction

live on radio (Sundays, 7:15am, Pacific time): www.knx1070.com

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller - New York Daily News